Soul of A Man
by lamdew91
Summary: After Dumbledore's death; Harry, Ron, and Hermione are ushered into hiding much to their own protestations to escape Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Little do they know, they will encounter something that will wrench their souls and show them what it truly means to be human.
1. Chapter One: Change Of Plans

**AN: I do not own The Walking Dead or Harry Potter. Both names are the original property of their respective owners.**

Chapter One: Change of Plans

"Where do you think you're going boy?" Harry sighed as he heard the rumbling voice of his uncle. "I'm seventeen now and you're can't do anything because I'm leaving. I'm legal age." His uncle just laughed cruelly. " Where will you go? Who will take you in? Those freaks you hang around with?" Harry ground his teeth and grumbled, "It's none of your business."

Harry trudged upstairs, thinking of his planned getaway with his two best friends. A small smile lit up his face at the thought of them. "Pig should be here soon", Harry muttered to himself, "then it's off to wherever." Harry, Ron and Hermione had this trip planned out from the beginning. He didn't want to but last year Dumbledore told him to go into hiding and McGonagall and the Ministry insisted as well.

So off he goes to America and hopefully there's no dark wizards there to ruin everything.

Just then, sound echoed across the room with a loud *THUMP*. And Harry looked up to see a dazed Pigwidgeon sitting on the window sill. Harry rushed to the window and threw it open and the owl hopped in and landed on Hedwig's cage with a note tied to his foot. But when Harry tried to grab the letter, Pig jumped out of the way and hooted happily.

"Come here, Pig, we don't have time for this!" Harry growled. Pig then hooted again and settled, allowing Harry to take the letter.

Harry,

Sorry the post took so long mate, but Pig was kicking up a fuss about this trip. Hermione's here too and where on our way to come and get you soon. Sorry about such a short letter, but we can't risk this falling in to the wrong hands. We'll talk once we meet up.  


Cheers, Ron and Hermione

Harry smiled even more. 'It won't take them long to get here so I'll keep Pig comfortable' Funny how that works out. Harry spent the next twenty minutes trying to catch the flying fuzzball and when he finally caught him, the doorbell rang.

Harry then stuffed Pigwidgeon into his cage and ran down the stairs two steps at a time and met his uncle at the door. Vernon glared at him and shuffled away and when he opened the door, his hair was covered in a mass of brown, curly hair.

"Oof!" "Let the man breathe, Hermione. You'll kill him before You-Know-Who does." Harry looked past her mane to see his tall, red-haired, freckled, and gangly friend. "Harry we got a slight change of plan." Harry looked around and saw a mass of long red hair and when she turned, his emerald eyes found those, deep chocolate brown ones and felt his heartbeat speed up.


	2. Chapter Two: No Return

Chapter Two: No Return

"Ginny?"

Shock registered on Harry's face for a few minutes then changed to confusion. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are you coming with us?" Ginny just stared at him like she never seen anything quite like him. "Mum made me come. She knew how dangerous it was going to end up here in Britain so she suggested that her youngest daughter be as far away from here as possible."

Harry nodded, not in complete agreement, but accepting nonetheless. It would be awkward being around Ron and Hermione's lovey-dovey snog sessions and make him feel like a third wheel. Not that he blamed them, he'd do it too.

"So when are we leaving?" Ron asked "Soon I hope." Came a voice from behind Harry. He didn't even bother looking around to see who uttered those words' "Yeah me too, Vernon. So I don't have to see your walrus face anymore." The other three hid their sniggers and Vernon slammed the door shut.

For the next hour or so, they waited for the time to go to the airport to catch their plane. They chose this means of transportation because you never know who might be watching the Portkey and Floo departments. "The LondonHeathrowAirport is our best bet" explains Hermoine. "It's the largest of our airports and harder to get spotted. If we get split up, here are a couple coins that we can use to communicate with." She handed them each a golden Galleon with D.A. written on them. "If you get lost, just squeeze the coin and think about who you're looking for. Their image will pop into your head and it will guide you to them."

Harry smiled at her ingenuity, for time and again she outdoes herself. Harry called a taxi service and handled the transaction. Once they were piled in, Harry took a glance back. "You know, you can never again set foot in their home Harry." He just nodded and thinking of the times he had. Though horrible, they were those of family. "Harry, look!" Harry turned and saw Dudly standing in the middle of the street, waving his big beefy hands. Harry smiled widely and waved back, thinking that he finally got through to his cousin.

The airport was bustling with commuters when they got there, none looking at them more than once. The four of them went to the desk and got their tickets with passports made by the Order then they lined up to get on their plane. "Never been on a plane before" Whimpered Ron. Hermione smiled and whispered something in Ron's ear. He beamed and took her hand and let her lead him to their seats. Harry and Ginny did likewise in the seats across from them.

Harry squeezed Ginny's hand and closed his eyes and before he dozed off, he mumbled "No return."

**A.N. Sorry the story seems to be moving slow, but I'm just trying to set the pace so I don't burn myself out before I can get to the rest of the story**


	3. Chapter Three: Atlanta

Chapter Three: Atlanta

"The Order has a house set up for us away from prying Muggle eyes. It's on the outskirts of some place called Atlanta, Georgia." Harry has been nodding off and on ever since Hermione woke up both him and Ginny from their respective naps and has not been paying much attention.

That is until he got a rap on the head by a magazine. "Ow, huh?" he mumbled. "Oh nevermind, I'll explain it once we land and you better not go back to sleep Harry!" "Yeah, yeah." He muttered again. Afew moments later he got up to go to the lavatory and while was gone Hermione leaned over and whispered to Ginny, "Is he alright? He doesn't usually get cross with me." "Maybe it's the stress of being in a new country" Ginny suggested. Hermione had a thoughtful look on her when Harry came back and sat down.

Ginny prodded him playfully and said "Took you long enough."

Not long after they began their decent and touched down in AtlantaAirport. They took a taxi to where they would be staying, all the while, Hermione kept glancing back. Once they got to the house, she visibly relaxed. "Good evenin' folks, you new around here?" They started and look around to see a clean shaven man in a brown law enforcer's uniform.

Harry nodded and asked "What gave us away?. The man just chuckled and approached them, holding out his hand. "Names Sheriff Rick Grimes, but y'all can call me Rick. My wife's out right now and my son's inside. Maybe later we y'all can come over and we can have ourselves a welcome dinner?" Ron look ecstatic at the prospect of food.

"Sure Rick we'd love to come over, but first we got some stuff to put away. Moving in isn't as easy at I thought it would be." Rick laughed and got into his squad car. "Alright then, see you around 7:30. I gotta go to the station to puck something up. I'll tell the wife we got some guests coming over."

Harry smiled at Rick's hospitality and waved as he drove off.

"Well Harry, it look like we got some plans tonight and only a half an hour to do all the unpacking." Ginny then tugged on his arm and pulled him into the house. Ron scowled at the thought of their plans but Hermione just laughed.

Half an hour later, they got most of their stuff done and went over to the Grimes' residence and knocked on the door. A woman who looked to be in her mid thirties answered and brightened when she saw the company. "Come in, you must be the new neighbors Rick told me about.. The name's Lori by the way" Then she shouted, "Carl, come and say hello!"

Just as Harry thought, he didn't come running, so they group followed Lori into the living room where a small boy, no younger than ten was watching T.V. "Carl, what did I tell you?"

"No playing ball in the house?" Ron sniggered at that.

"No, I told you to come and say hello and don't get smart with me young man. I swear, you're hitting your rebellious age before Shane and your father did."

"Did I hear my name?" came a voice from the front hall. "Dad!" yelled Carl. "Easy buddy, I was here a half an hour ago." But he smiled at his son nonetheless. Ginny leaned over and whispered to Harry so that only he can hear "Makes you wonder doesn't it?" Harry just froze and Ginny laughed at him while Lori, Rick, and Carl led them to the kitchen.

"I apologize, but I didn't get your names." "Oh." Said Hermione. "I

M Hermione, that's Harry, Ron and Ginny." "So no last names huh? Hermione turned red and looked flustered until Rick started laughing. "No need to give that look, I'm just messin' with you." Hermione nodded and looked awkwardly around the table.

"So, you two related or something?" Carl asked Ginny and Ron. "Yup, I'm older by a year." Replied Ron with a wide smile. The night went as they passed stories around and the four teenagers avoided anything to do with magic seeing as it's blatantly obvious that these people were Muggles.

"Well, we really must be going. It was nice meeting you Rick, Lori, Carl." Said Harry jubilantly. "See you around and remember we live right next door." Added Ron jokingly. Rick laughed and saw them to the door.

"Well that was a strange family." said Hermione thoughtfully. "Yeah, but they seem nice enough.

That night, Ron threw a fit about the sleeping arrangements. Seeing as there were only two bedrooms, they had to bunk two in each. Hermione suggested that she share with Ron but he saw right through it. Or so he says, and doesn't want Harry and Ginny doing anything. So with the arrangements in order, everyone drifted off to sleep, except Harry. Who stayed up and thought about this "new" country. What experiences will it hold? And will Ron ever stop snoring no matter where he slept?

'I swear, he's like a rock.' But Harry couldn't sleep, so he went downstairs to the living room and made himself some hot chocolate and say on the couch. He pulled out his family's photo album and started flipping through, enjoying the happy smiles on his parent's faces. "Hey, I thought you would be down here." Harry almost jumped until he saw it was Ginny.

"Oh, Ginny. I didn't hear you come in. Yeah, I can't sleep with the logger upstairs. At least not tonight." She giggled and sat next to Harry. "Your mum was really pretty." Ginny said quietly, gently running her fingertips over the picture of his mother holding him between her and his father. "Yeah, they always saud it was legacy for a Potter man to fall for the red hair." He gave her a knowing smile and flipped the page.

"You want some hot chocolate?" he asked as he conjured it up, "Thank you."

They sat in silence for a while and pretty soon, they too fell asleep. Together and on the couch with the photo album flipped open to a picture of his mum and dad dancing in the autumn breeze.


	4. Chapter Four: Blending In

**A.N. I do not own Harry Potter nor The Walking Dead which are sole property of their original authors.**

Chapter Four: Blending In

"Harry, we need to get you a job."

Harry grumbled at the repeated statement. It's been constantly mulled over and it has come down to a divison. Either Ron and Harry get jobs to make themselves look like normal Muggles to help blend in with the community or they stay at home and keep in hiding with less chance of being spotted. Harry was all for staying at home for it gave him more time to spend with Ginny, though he didn't give Ron this reason and said that it would put them out in the open. Ron agreed, as usual.

To an observer, it's obvious that it surprised neither Hermione nor Ginny that the two men agreed and they were not impressed. "Honestly Harry, it will do you some good to get out into the open once in a while. You've been cooped up in here for a week. Not only that, you could go to work with Rick at the police station. That would give some kind of protection if something were to happen."

Harry rolled his eyes, but after all the nagging , he gave in. He talked it over with Rick and since they were a bit short handed at the station, he and Ron were inducted as trainees. They were not allowed to carry a gun, but they did have badges and were allowed to arrest troublemakers. Afterwards, they had their uniforms fitted and they wore them home where the women celebrated. Embarrassingly, Hermione took the liberty of inviting Rick's family and (to Harry and Ron's disgust) Rick's best friend Shane. Who was unmistakably making flirting looks with Ginny and Hermione.

Fortunately, neither woman noticed. Otherwise, Ron and Harry would have ended up ruining the party. All the while the adults were talking, Carl, being Carl, snuck off to one of the bedrooms and started snooping around. 'Interesting. Why would there be a stick under Harry's pillow?' Carl shrugged and put it back. While he was looking around, he didn't notice the shadow sneaking up on him.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

The adults stopped talking and Lori asked frantically "Where's Carl?" and at the same time Hermione asked "Where's Ron?" in the same tone.

They heard a bit of scuffling and a boy's voice shouted "Put me down!" "Don't think so mate, didn't your parent's teach you that it's rude to go looking around someone's house unsupervised?"

"Oh, Carl.." Lori mumbled, covering her face. "I'm sorry about this you three. It's just that he's young-"

"It's fine ma'am, we understand. We were all children once too." Hermione reasoned. Not a minute later, Ron came down, effortlessly carrying Carl by the scruff of his shirt and set him down in front of his mother.

"Carl, what did I tell you about sneaking around someone else's house?" Rick chided. "But dad, Harry had a stick under his pillow and I was just wondering what it was for."

The four wizards gave each other nervous glances that were missed by the other four.

"Yes, and I have one too Carl, it's for scratching my back. Now apologize to Harry." Carl looked at his feet and mumbled an apology while Shane gave them an angry look. Harry knelt down. "Remember that curiosity killed the cat. Bad things sometimes happen when you go poking your nose where it's not supposed to. Lesson of life." He said with a smile and bopped Carl lightly on the nose.

"Well we must be going. It was nice seeing all of you again and welcome to the family you guys." Lori said a little too enthusiastically. "No worries and thanks for the help moving the rest of our stuff in the other day." Harry told them but Rick waved it away with a kind smile.

"You know," Ron said thoughtfully, "I think I'm going to like it here. It's peaceful."

**Read and Review. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading :)**


	5. Chapter Five: Making The Call

Chapter Five: Making The Call

"So Harry, first day on the job, I'm going to be your T.O. so let's get in and go look for some bad guys."

Harry couldn't help but grin. He was finally going to start making a difference. A small one, mind you, but it's a difference. Poor Ron was stuck with Shane in another squad car. Harry shook his head at the thought of what's going on in that car. "You got something on your mind there Harry?"

"It's nothing. I've never done police work before. Maybe small time detective work, but nothing like this."

"Detective work, huh? Maybe we can use that talent of yours. What did you do?"

Harry had to explain it to him, in Muggle terms about the basilisk and finding out who set it loose. Not to raise suspicions, he left out the part about the Chamber.

"Wow, so you yourself got bit but you managed to survive and catch the bastard that killed those poor people? I gotta say, Harry. Your friends are lucky to have you." Harry shook his head stubbornly. "No, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have made it as far as I did." Rick just smiled and looked ahead at the road.

All the sudden the dispatcher came over the radio "We got a stolen vehicle last seen traveling west-bound. Two armed suspects, shots fired. Need assistance."

"Well, Harry, it looks like you'll be getting your hands on training today. Don't do anything rash and don't try to be a hero. Out here, heroes get themselves killed." Harry just nodded as Rick picked up the C.B. mic and spoke. "We need road blocks set up all around the area and squad cars in pursuit. Shane get you and your boy over here. We're giving these two a test run."

"Alright, man. Be there in three minutes."

Harry was shaking. Never been in this situation before without his wand. Sure he almost died many times and escaped the most dangerous dark wizard of all time just as often. But this is the Muggle world. He can't use his magic without rousing suspicions. "Nervous?"

Harry nodded and swallowed.

"Here." Rick opened up the compartment and pulled out a Barretta. Harry just looked at it. "You'll need this. These folks down here are usually armed to the teeth. I don't want you doing in like a sheep in a slaughter." Harry took it and slid in the clip. "Safety." Rick reminded him.

Harry smiled and flipped it. "Got it."

"There!" yelled Harry "It's the truck. It matches the description, license plate, and everything." It was spotted down the road to their left. "Hang out." Rick warned him and jerked the wheel to the left and skidded down the road as Harry put on the sirens.

BOOM

Harry spoke into the C.B. "In pursuit, need assistance. We got shots fired—" The windshield shattered and covered Harry in glass. "We're under heavy fire, I repeat under heavy fire."

Harry lowered his window and leaned out slightly and fired on the truck, clipping the back bumper. "Where are you aiming at? asked Rick. "I'm going for the tires. Knock them off the road and they'll flip, making them disoriented giving us time to move in."

Rick nodded approval and spotted another squad car behind them. "Your buddy's here, Harry."

Harry looked back and saw Ron leaning out with a gun in hand, holding it awkwardly. 'He has a lot more to learn than I do.' Harry thought. "Split up and cover both sides. Ron take out one side and Harry take out the other. If you guys take out at least one tire, they'll flip. Plus they can't shoot at both of you at once. Harry and Ron nodded. Ron looked a little sick, but he steeled himself.

BOOM.

More glass flying. Harry squeezed off three shots and Ron took two before they both hit the tires and the truck went careening off into the ditch.

The squad cars squealed to a stop and the four men got out, pointing their guns at the overturned truck.. Using the doors for cover, they took their positions.

"Get out of the truck now!" shouted Rick harshly. One guy, the driver, tried to run and Shane took him down with a shot to the chest. The other guy leaned out quickly and fired on Harry and missed. A few seconds later he aimed for Harry again and fired, this time getting Harry in the leg with buckshot, giving Rick the chance to get off another chest shot.

"GAAAAAHHHHH!" growled Harry.

"You okay, Harry?" asked Ron worriedly. Ron ripped his undershirt and used it to tie off Harry's leg and helped him into the car when Rick made to approach the truck.

Harry then saw something through the back window when Rick got close. "Rick! Watch out!" "Easy Harry, I'm just searching the bodies." "You don't understand, there were three guys, not two!" Just then the guy came out of the truck and fired on Rick, hitting him in the abdomen. "RICK!" shouted Shane and before the guy could put another bullet into Rick, the guy fell with buckshot to the chest.

Harry hobbled over to Rick while Shane tore open the best and checked the wound where the bullet hit him. Unfortunately, it was not where the vest was covering. "We need a medic! Officer down!" "Shane kept pressure on the wound, but it was gushing. "Don't you die on me Rick, you fight it! Fight for Lori, for your boy! Damn it, Rick fight for me!" Shane kept yelling at the top of his lungs while Ron was frantically shouting instructions to the dispatcher, telling them their location.

Five minutes later, or what seems to be an eternity, E.M.T.s showed up and declare that Rick is in critical condition then rushed him off to the hospital. Shane was pulling his hair and wandering around. "Someone's gotta tell Lori. She's gotta know." "Hey, hey. Shane." Ron grabbed him and made Shane look at him. "Go with Rick, I'll inform Lori. Rick needs your right now, his best friend. His brother. He needs you there when he wakes up."

Shane nodded and asked "You guys good to drive home?" They replied the affirmative and Shane said "Take the rest of the day off, and be safe you two."

As they watched him drive off in pursuit of the ambulance, Harry burst out "I want to tell Lori. It's my fault for not seeing that guy sooner."

"Harry—"

"No, I want to do it."

"It's your call mate. Make it."


	6. Chapter Six: Pain No One Should Know

Chapter Six: Pain No One Should Know

Not fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the school. Men and women of different ages and races were waiting for their children to come back to them. Harry felt his heart fill with sorrow at the prospect of what could have been but then shook his head and steeled himself for what he has to do. 'There she is.' Though Harry.

Ron got out and helped Harry limp over to her. "Oh, my God Harry, you're bleeding!" She exclaimed. Harry waved his hand and spoke sadly "Lori, Rick's been shot." She shook for a few seconds while Ron looked away. "Is he dead?" The question that's he prepared himself for, but it's one thing you could never be prepared for.

"I don't know what condition he's in. The dispatcher screwed up. They said there was only two suspects, but there was a third one we didn't see until it was too late. Rick was getting out of the way when the shot just hit his side."

Harry looked down and Lori patted him on the cheek. "Thank you Harry. Ron, are you alright?" "Unscathed ma'am." She nodded and walked away. "We got to get you some attention Harry."

Harry just laughed. "Take me home, Hermione can fix me up in no time. She's a healer remember?" Ron nodded and helped Harry back into the car.

They rode in silence, each buried in their own thoughts until they reached the comfort of their home. Though not much comfort could be gotten out of it right now. But for now they focused on getting Harry into the door. They heard Ginny squeal from down the hall and hurried to the door, but stopped dead at the sight of Harry on the doorstep. "Before you say anything, Ginny, I'm fine." Harry smiled weakly at Ron's joke.

Ginny helped Ron get Harry to the living room and sat him on the couch. Harry grinned at Ron. "'Get a job' they said. 'It'll be fun' they said." Ron burst out laughing as Harry grimaced when Hermione used her wand to pull the buckshot out of Harry's leg. "You two should be more careful." she said shakily. She put dittany on his wound and wrapped it up in a clean bandage and made Ron throw out his ruined shirt, making him pout.

"So… What happened Harry?"

It took all of twenty minutes of telling the whole story to Hermione and Ginny. Both of them were white as ghosts when they were through.

"You got shot."

"Are you still stuck on that part?"

"You got shot." Ginny stated again with her eyes brimming in tears. Which is odd because Ginny was not a weepy person.

Harry hung his head in shame and Ginny wrapped her arms around him while Hermione pulled Ron from the room. "I almost lost you." Ginny whispered. "You were never in any danger of losing me."

She kissed him deeply and it went on for five minutes until they were rudely interrupted.

"OI!"

"Shut up, Ron. He's my boyfriend."

Ron opened his mouth to say something else until Hermione did they same thing to Ron. Harry and Ginny smiled at each other and when they broke away, Ron looked to be in a daze. "Hey Ron, your face is going to freeze like that." "Shaddup, I'm having a good dream." Hermione looked miffed and said "It's not a dream, you wanker."

Harry and Ginny laughed, and a couple hours later, they went to bed. Harry stayed up and thought about what happened today. He thought about what's happening back in Britain, how everyone was doing. How Fred and George were holding up without having their youngest brother to pick on. Bill without having Ginny around to make him feel old. Harry sniggered at that. He thought about Carl and how he's dealing with the situation. Did he see his father? Did Lori? Should he call her? Should he go over to check up on her? Should he call Rick to see how he's doing? Yes. It seemed the logical thing. Visiting hours weren't over yet so he could call to check on his condition. There should be nurses there.

He looked up the number to the hospital in Atlanta and they receptionist put him through to Rick's nurse. "Are you his friend?" "He's my training officer and today was my first day on the job. He got shot under bad circumstances."

"Honey, I;m sorry to tell you, but he's in a coma at the moment. We don't know when he will be out of it." Harry's heart dropped. "Can I visit him when I get healed up? I got shot in the leg but it's not so bad. It should be about two days until it heals. Would that be okay?"

"Certainly, but he will still probably be under by then." Harry nodded to himself. He expected that, not that it makes things any easier.

"I'm sorry to bother you, I have to go now."

The nurse hung up without saying goodbye, leaving Harry with an eerie chill as he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.


	7. Chapter Seven: Come Back To Me

Chapter Seven: Wait For Me

Harry awoke with a start. Something was wrong. Very wrong. There were screams and sirens and Ginny's voice was ringing in his ears and he felt someone shaking him. "Harry! Get up! We have to go. Now!"

"Wazgoinon?" he mumbled sleepily, reaching for his glasses. "I don't know, but something bad is happening and we can't use our magic to fix it. Hermione already tried. These things are just too damn resilient."

Things? What could she possibly be talking about? Harry got up and looked out the bedroom window and what he saw made his jaw drop. People running amok, smoke and flames from the house across from them, and even worse… People eating other people.

His first thought was Inferi, but these things, as Ginny said are resilient to magic and they don't shirk away from fire. Odd, but now isn't the time. "What about Rick?" Ginny just shook her head. "According to the broadcast, the cities were hit hardest." His stomach plummeted.

"I have to go get him. There's a chance that he's still alive." "Harry, you can't. There are just too many of those things around. Harry just shook his head stubbornly. "I can Apparate with the best of them. I'll be fine. I need you to go with Ron and Hermione. Stick with Rick's family. As far as I seen, Shane's getting them packed up and leaving. You need to go with them."

She shook her head as well. "I can be just as stubborn, Mr. Potter." Harry sighed. "Fine. I won't be able to get through not knowing if you're safe though. Ron will come with me. Go with Shane and I'll meet up with you wherever they're going. I'll ask before we leave but we need to hurry. Grab essentials, nothing we don't need."

She just nodded in agreement and kissed Harry softly the whispered "Come back to me."

He kissed her back and said "I always do."

**A.N. We'll see how this plays out. Thanks for the views. This is going to follow TWD series season-by-season with my own changes. Hope you've enjoyed it so far :) I have it all playing out in my mind, so I'm writing off the top of my head. You never know, if you like it, you might end up loving it and if you hate it so far, you might end up liking it and vice versa. R&R :)**


	8. Chapter Eight: Don't Open, Dead Inside

**A.N. I do not own any part of Harry Potter or The Walking Dead, which are sole property of the original authors.**

Chapter Eight: "Don't Open, Dead Inside"

"Hey Shane!"

Shane jumped and turned around, quickly drawing his weapon. But as soon as he saw who it was, he lowered it slightly. "Hey, whaddya need? We have to get moving, those things are gonna be swarming any time soon." "I understand, but I have to go get Rick. I can't just leave him there like that." Shane looked away with an odd look on his face. Was is triumph or was it sympathy? It was hard to tell.

"I need you to take Ginny and Hermione while Ron and I go get Rick." Said Harry hurriedly. Shane just shook his head. "He's gone Harry. I don't know what to tell ya, I put a block in front of the door but there's no telling whether or not if anything got in. Just don't tell Lori, I don't want to see her crushed if she learns that he might be alive and then it turns out he wasn't."

"Just tell us where you're going and we can meet up there after we get out. Either we find Rick, or we don't. But if I don't at least try, I'm going to hate myself for it."

"We're heading up the interstate. If you don't find us, keep looking along the road for the car. You'll find us."

Harry and Ron watched as the women piled into the car with Shane, Lori, and Carl. Once they were gone, they rushed to the backyard to Apparate. "Umm, Harry? I still don't have the whole Apparition thing down." "No worries, we can just pop in on the roof. That way we don't have to run into any of those things or travel too far to get to his room." Ron gulped and held his wand at the ready. Harry grabbed his arm and next thing they knew, they were sucked into that sickeningly tight space that feels like they're being force through a tight rubber tube.

GASP

They both dropped to their knees from the effects as soon as they arrived at their destination, gasping for air. "It – won't – take us – long – to get there." breathed Ron heavily. Harry silently agreed and oncen they caught their breath, they took the stairs down from the roof.

Silence. Absolute silence. It was eerie, like something crawling on you. A phantom tickle that doesn't seem to go away. It weighed heavily on their minds and hearts like a suffocating mass.

"I don't like this, Harry." whispered Ron. Again, Harry agreed silently. Something wasn't right about this. Everything felt off. It was like walking through a silent graveyard at midnight, half expecting a hand to reach up and snatch your ankle.

Up and down the corridors, they sneaked, afraid of rousing anything hostile. Harry still didn't understand the concept behind these… Things. Whatever they are. Are they dead? Are they crazed humans? These questions ran around his head as they searched the floors for Rick's room. "It's right around the corner" whispered Harry. Ron merely nodded and steeled himself for what was next. Once they turned the corner, it was empty and all the doors stood ajar as though all the tenants rushed out without even grabbing their clothes, garbed in only hospital gowns.

"Harry, look."

Harry turned to see holes in the wall and blood splattered all over the plaster. "There were soldiers here. That means wither Rick was spared and taken, he escaped, or…. He's dead." Ron remained quiet but continued to examine the rooms, making sure nothing was going to jump out unexpectedly.

Rick's door was wide open and as Shane said, there was a gurney positioned near the door that suggested is was moved by the door's swinging motion. "Rick's not in there. There's a chance he may still be alive. My guess is that the first place he would go is home so let's check back there." Ron wasn;t listening.

He was focused on a door at the end of the hall that led to some kind of staff lounge. They crept toward it and heard soft noises on the other side. That was when Harry saw the writing on the door and he did not know if it was paint or someone's own blood.

** DONT OPEN**

** DEAD INSIDE**

Harry moved closer and looked through the crack.

"AH!"

Harry fell back and landed on his rump. "Harry, what was it?" "An eye. Someone was looking through the crack like I was." The door started to move and rattle and creepily, a hand protruded from the crack once it was wide enough. A hand that was in it's first stages of decomposition.


	9. Chapter Nine: Back To Atlanta

Chapter Nine: Back To Atlanta

"What do we do Harry?"

Harry took Ron's hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "Well, if it was me, the first place I'd go is home so let's check there. He might still be there."

Ron just followed Harry back to the rooftop to where they can Apparate to the Grimes' house, who's door stood wide open. "Wands out, Ron. There's no telling what might be in here." They snuck quietly through the front door, hoping that there wasn't a creak in the floorboards. "Rick!" whispered Harry loudly. No answer. "Maybe he left and found them or maybe he's on his way here." suggested Ron.

Harry took a quick sweep of the house and determined that Rick wasn't there. He noticed the pictures were all gone. "You know that wasn't looters. They wouldn't take family photos, they would go for the big ticket items." They both looked at the flat screen t.v; which was still standing where they last saw it. "Also it seems that those things didn't make it this far yet."

Harry didn't comment but suggested they go back to their house to wait for Rick. It was too exposed for them to be in the Grimes' house. Not to mention Harry felt like he was intruding even during the current situation. "We'll have to stay they night." Ron said. Harry just nodded and turned his back and started to wave his wand all the while concentrating as much as he can. "Expecto Patronum!"

"Message?"

"Yup. Come on, we got to get our rest. We might have to be up early to catch Rick if he comes home."

The night was disturbingly quiet. The silence pressed in around them like a suffocating mass determined to squeeze out every breath in their bodies. Harry stayed up, not being able to sleep in this environment. Not to mention a certain red-head was sawing logs over in the corner. Harry shook his head, trying to get rid of all the bad scenarios that were playing out in his mind.

As he lay back on his bed, he slowly twirled his wand around and cast random, gentle magic, careful not to wake his friend or cause a disturbance from outside. In his mind, he went back to his third year when Lupin was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. 'How would you plan this out Lupin?' Harry thought. 'What would be your thoughts on what's going on? Would you be as confused as we are or would you understand it?'

With that thought in mind, he fell into a dark, uneasy sleep filled with the screams he heard a couple hours ago. Dark dreams full of blood and rotting flesh and Ron's hand reaching out to him the bones showing and a dead look in his eyes. Harry screamed.

"Harry! Harry, wake up!"

The hand continue to shake him and Harry's eyes snapped open. He squeezed his eyes shut at the glare of light coming in from the window. "What? What's going on?!"

"Easy, Harry." Ron whispered. "I just thought I'd wake you from that nightmare. Besides there are people outside." Harry jumped to his feet and peeked through the window. "What do you see?" Ron asked quietly.

"Two people. One man and a boy. Looks like his son. They're outside Rick's house and they're just standing there." "Could I be that Rick's with them?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, but we have to confront them sooner or later." Ron agreed and soon they were walking through the front door. "Hey, what are you guys doing?" The two jumped and turned. The boy's eyes crinkled in anger. "Easy, kid. You'll age faster if you do that." Ron sniggered.

The boy looked livid but the man put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Hold on Duane. We don't know these people. Who are you and what are you doing in that house?"

Ron scoffed. "We live here obviously, but were waiting for someone."

"Ron? Is that you?" Rick walked out of his house and ran down the front steps. "Holy shit, Harry too. I was looking for Lori and Carl. Do you know where they went?"

"Yeah they left with Shane and took Ginny and Hermione with them. We stayed behind to look for you but you weren't at the hospital." Harry explained. "I got jumped by those things. Walkers I guess you could call them then Duane decided to hit me in the face with a shovel—" The young boy giggled. "That's not funny man, my face still hurts. Anyway he thought I was a Walker but they took me in and patched me up."

"Where do you plan on going next?"

"Well we need to stock up on weapons, so I guess the station's armory would do nicely but I heard there was a shelter in Atlanta. I think our group went there."

"Lets go then. No point in wasting time here. We should get going while it's still light out." The man said. "By the way, the name's Morgan and this is my son Duane. I apologize for the misunderstanding." "No worries, we're pretty much new here anyway."

**Meanwhile**

"Hermione, I don't trust him. I don't know why but the way he looks at us give me the creeps."

"I know what you mean, Ginny but for now, we just have to endure it."

"Ya ladies need anything?"

The voice made them both jump out of their skin. "No, thank you Shane. We're fine." "Okay, just makin' sure. Ya need anything just let me know and I'm there."

Both women just nodded and waited for him to leave. "See what I mean, he doesn't even leave us alone for two minutes and constantly breathing down our necks.

"Miss, can you play with us?" the small voice made them look around and when they looked down, they saw a girl with dirty blonde hair and holding a Sophie doll. "Sure, sweety. What's your name?" asked Ginny politely.

"Sophia. Everybody just calls me Sophia."

"well it's very nice to meet you Sophia." Said Hermione with a smile and politely held out her hand until she saw the young girl flinch as if she was about to be struck. "Are you okay?" The girl just nodded and looked down. "Sophia, get yer little ass over here girl. Din I tell ya not to be conversing with strangers?" A tall, angry looking man approached Hermione and Ginny.

"You two stay away from my daughter, ya hear me? Anyway ain'tchu supposed to be workin' or somthin?"

Hermione looked outraged. "Excuse me?" "Ya know, women's work. Cooking, laundry. It's what a woman was made fer." Hermione looked angrier and angrier with each word this man spoke. "I think it's best if you leave us alone."

The redneck laughed. "Er what. Ya gone hit me er somethin'?"

"That's exactly what I'll do." Behind the vast man stood a frightened looking woman, which would only mean that it was his wife. "I know you abuse your wife and daughter, you sorry excuse for a human being."

"What did you say?"

"You heard me." The woman behind him started shaking her head frantically. Hermione nodded at her then pulled her fist back to hit the man in the face. But the man being almost three times her size just pushed her back and she fell on her behind with a quiet "Oof!"

Hermione almost missed it, it went so fast, but she saw the man's head snap back with the force of a crushing blow that made him keel over. Next thing anybody knew, Shane was on top of the redneck, beating his face in while the man's wife screaned at Shane to stop. Hermione couldn't fathom why, but she was crying for her husband.

Shane just kept whaling at him until there was nothing but a bloody face. He picked the man's head up by his hair and growled at the man. "If you so much as lay another finger on any woman, I WILL kill you,. Especially your daughter. Do. Not. Touch. Them. Again. Do you understand?" Surprisingly, The man was able to move his head up and down. Shane then got off them man and wiped his bruised and bloody knuckles off on his jeans while the man's wife helped him into their tent.

Ginny and Hermione just sat there in shock. The woman came back out and when the little girl took her place. Hermione got an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Alright Morgan, here's a radio. Every morning at dawn, I'll contact you with the other one so when you're ready, you can come join us." Morgan just nodded and took the duffle bag full of guns that Rick had given him and his son. "Woah, I;m gonna learn how to use a gun?"

"You're damn right, but you're going to learn how to handle it properly. A gun is not a toy, respect it and it will save your life and even mine." Harry, Ron, and Rick just listened to the man and his son talk while they piled into the cruiser to head to Atlanta.

They pulled out of the station parking lot and waved at Duane and Morgan on their way out. Harry took the radio. "Good luck Morgan, Duane. Keep your faith and don't run into any trouble."

Rick gave a chuckle and Morgan came back "You too boy. Keep that man out of harms way. He needs to see his wife and boy again." "Will do."

They shut the radio off to preserve the power and while they drove, Harry was thinking about things again. How things were going in the war against Voldemort, things like that. But had the infection spread that far yet, or was it just local or maybe the entire United States is affected? After about a half hour with these thoughts, Rick's voice pulled him out of his reverie.

"Shit, we're almost out of gas. It looks like were on foot from here." They got out and kept their eyes open for Walkers. Ron spotted one without legs and was about to kill it but Rick stopped him and he looked puzzled.

"Don't waste your effort on Crawlers. They can't get to us as long as we keep moving. Besides a gunshot will attract more. That's how Morgan put it. They're attracted to light and sound, which is why they seem more active during night time where even the slightest gleam can set them off after something."

Ron looked like he understood but you could see the gears grinding in his head.

An hour or so later, they made it to Atlanta, traveling on the opposite of the creepily abandoned highway. Once in the city, they turned down the first street, following signs that may lead to the shelters. Another block and another and another when suddenly they had to rush back.

"Holy shit, did you see that herd?"

"Yeah, how are we going to get past them?"

"I don't know, but we don't want to get swarmed… Okay, you see that tank?" The other two nodded. "Now as soon as I tell you, you're going to rush to it and enter it through a portal in the bottom. Maybe we can get it started."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to distract them with sound, and once you guys get to in the tank, you distract them by making sounds from inside so they'll leave me alone, then I can go to whatever side has the least on it and get through the portal underneath as well."

They agreed because neither of them can come up with a better idea.

"Okay… Now!"

They rushed to the tank and rolled underneath. Ron went through first and Harry heard a gunshot and Ron cried out in pain. Harry, rushed up to see what happened and seen a corpse with a bullet wound to the head and Ron holding his ears. Harry shook his head at his friend's foolishness and climbed in.

Once Ron got his hearing back, which didn't take long even though his ears were still ringing, they managed to find a way to fire the gun on top and caught the attention of the entire hoard. Harry quickly got the gist of the .50 cal. Machine gun on top and started mowing down what he could of the hoard and stopped long enough for Rick to get through and get into the tank from the bottom.

Harry quickly ducked down back into the tank once he saw Walkers start trying to climb the tank and sealed the hatch.

"Phwoo! That was one hell of a workout. Nice shooting." Rick was breathing heavily and took a break. Once they caught their second wind, they tried to look for ways to start it up, but it seemed to be nothing but a pile of scrap that was providing a three and a half inch steel barrier between them and the walkers.

They just started to calm down from their successful plan when they heard static and then a voice.

"Hey you. Yeah you dumbasses in the tank. It looks like you need a bit of help."


	10. Chapter Ten: Safe?

Chapter Ten: Safe?

"Hey, you guys gonna pick up?"

Harry grabbed the C.B. mic.

"Who is this?"

"Duh, the one who's gonna save your asses. That's one hell of an accent by the way."

Ron just shook his head in disbelief.

"Umm… Thanks? Well anyway, how did you get this frequency? It's not exactly that easy to get any tank frequency since they have their own." Rick reasoned.

"Well since shit went to hell, I picked up a few new skills. So do you want out or not? That tank is covered in Walkers." The voice said.

Rick grabbed the C.B. and asked "What do we do?"

"Well does those bodies in there have any grenades?"

"Two."

"Grab them and toss one and take cover. After it clears the walkers, run out and go two blocks up. How many are with you?"

"Three and there's a gun bag out in the middle of the road."

"Forget it, there's no time. The explosion will attract more and the city's covered in them."

Harry grabbed the grenade and chucked it out the hatch after pulling the pin. Rick counted down in his head. 'Four.. Three… Two… One…'

BOOM

They jumped out and rushed up the street where they met a young Korean man who was a two heads shorter than Rick who then began climbing the ladder to the roof.

"Come on, up on the roof!"

They followed closely and once they reached the top, they saw him jump across a wide gap.

"Aww, no. Aw, no." Rick began mumbling. "Come on, it's the only way to get across." Harry took the initiative hesitantly and ran as fast as he could and took a leaping jump across the wide gap and hit the other roof rolling. Ron quickly followed, not hesitating one bit and landed next to Harry.

"Come on, we don't have time for this. Those things may be stupid, but they learn quickly and they'll come up that ladder." Rick breathed heavily, closed his eyes for a second and then ran, jumping a bit too early and landed on his hip wrong when he rolled.

"Ahh!"

"Haha, getting old there sheriff, maybe it's time to retire. Names Glenn by the way."

Rick glared at him for a second for the 'old' comment but introduced everybody. Glenn took a look at Harry and commented "So you're the one with the accent." Harry said nothing to that but asked "Where are we going? We need to find a way to the shelter."

"Well, you're a few days too late. It's been overrun and if you're looking for someone, they might have left or they turned."

They followed Glenn back to his safe house, which turned out to be a small clothing store. A woman grabbed Rick by the collar and put a gun in his face. "What do you think you're doing? You alerted them to us and now they're swarming the front."

"Let him go, Andrea. They didn't know. Hello, my name is Jaqui, nice to meet you." The woman who introduced herself as Jaqui shook their hands, much to their surprise.

They went up to the roof where they heard gunshots. Andrea mumble "Merle Dixon…" Harry and Ron just looked as confused as Rick. They opened up the door to the roof to see the back of a tall, balding man who was firing potshots over the ramparts with a hunting rifle.

"Wooo hooo! Lookie at 'em!"

"Merle stop. You're attracting more and they're already at the front of the store.!" Andrea shouted at him.

"Oh shut up sugar-tits."

A black man walked up to him and tried to grab the gun "Gimme the gun, Merle."

"Or what, gonna shoot me, nigger?" Harry and Ron just looked confused at the term. "If I have to, yeah. But Daryl won't be too happy about it."

"T-Dog, let it go." Jaqui tried saying. But before she could, Merle grabbed T-Dog and started whaling on him. Rick and Ron both grabbed him and had to cuff him to a pipe. "Oh, come on! I'll beat that black ass! What you gonna do sheriff, arrest me? Ha Ha Ha! Your lackies too?" Ron just shook his head in disbelief.

"Let's go find a way out of here. This guy can stay here for a bit. T-Dog, think you can watch him?"

The man nursing a bloody lip nodded silently.

The rest trooped down the stairs and Rick asked Glenn "Is there another way?"

"Yeah, but it's down through the maintenance tunnels and I don't know if there are any Walkers down there."

"Okay you know the way, show me and we can check it out. You're the only one who knows the way around." They got to the entrance to the maintenance tunnel and outfitted themselves with flashlights. "Ron, Harry, stay up here and keep an eye on the front and make sure they don't get through."

Rick followed Glenn down the short ladder to the tunnel and walked out of sight. Ron and Harry rushed to the front and began putting shelves and other heavy objects in front of the door, getting a good view of the horde outside. "I never actually seen these things up close." Ron commented.

"Hope you don't ever again." Came a voice from behind. They turned and seen Andrea standing there looking at a small pendant. "My sister loves dolphins. I've been meaning to get her something for her birthday, but I haven't had the time."

Harry gave her a look. "Take it."

Andrea gave him a look. "In front of a cop?"

Ron gave her a goofy grin "We're not gonna arrest you if that's what you're worried about. It's the end of the world remember?"

Harry looked at him "Gonna? This town is growing on you isn't it?" Ron just gave a wide smile.

"It's good to see young people so happy. It makes fighting to live much more worthwhile." They turned and watched as Jaqui crossed the room towards them. "How's T-Dog?" asked Andrea.

"A few bumps and bruises. Nothing too major."

A commotion came from the next room and the rushed to see what was going on. Rick and Glenn looked out of breath. "Walkers… In the tunnels…"

"Well we need a way out. That door isn't going to last too much longer."

"I have an idea."

A few minutes later, they were covered in Walker guts and Ron asked "Why are we doing this again?"

"They smell their own on us, and they'll walk right past and not even bother us. We need to get a truck. Glenn, grab something loud and lead them away while everybody else piles in and lead the way to camp."

"Go!"

Glenn rushed out and got his eye set on a particularly shiny, red Challenger "Aww yes!" He said to himself.

Rick, Ron, and Harry heard a loud rumbling noise and they gave each other a look. "Well you did tell him to find something loud." Ron reasoned.

They saw the red Mustang drove past slowly, leading the Walkers away and they saw Glenn wave at them happily. Rick shook his head and jumped into a hauling van and backed it up to the store while chaos reined from in the store.

"Walkers!" yelled T-Dog from the roof. Rick tossed him the keys to Merle's cuffs while he was ushering everybody inside the back of the van. "Go get asshole and get him down. Morales, go cover him just in case there are any Walkers."

The Hispanic man gave a nod and rushed up the steps with T-Dog.

Merle was heard yelling "Get me outta here!" T-Dog rushed to help him out of the cuffs but right before he got to him, he tripped and the key went down a drain. "You asshole! You dirty motherfucker, get me out!"

"I'm sorry man, I'm really sorry." T-Dog looked stricken and had to run out the door hearing Merle yell "Help me outta here!" At a last second decision, T-Dog put a chain around the handle and locked it mumbking "I'm really sorry man."

Morales looked at him and he explained the situation. Morales said nothing and just left with T-Dog and jumped into the back of the truck. Rick asked where Merle was and T-Dog had to explain it again. Rick said nothing and drove them out of Atlanta and did not look back.

**A.N. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but I've had my hands full with other stuff. Also, I believe I'm going to make this a mix of the comic and the T.V. show but probably the show mostly. R&R J**


	11. Chapter Eleven: I Missed You

Chapter Eleven: I Missed You

Shane turned and heard a loud rumbling noise, seeing a red car come around the quarry. "What the hell is that?" asked Dale, the old man on top of the R.V. "Looks like Glenn."

The car slid to a stop right in front of the R.V. and Glenn got out with a big smile. "I LOVE that thing."

"You tryna attract Walkers? Because that's all they heard all the way here." Shane came out angrily. "Well I needed to show the rest of the people how to get here. We picked up three people in the city."

Shane waved it off as a hauling van came up and slid to a stop next to the Challenger and first one out was T-Dog. "I really don't like riding in vehicles…" Morales and Andrea just laughed at him while Jacqui led him off to the R.V. to lay down while Dale approached the car, already with plans to dismantle it.

"Oh come on man, I love this thing." Complained Glenn. "It's loud and will attract Walkers and not to mention it'll eat up a lot of gas. But it does have parts we need so it does have some use." Glenn just looked at it sadly while Rick, Harry and Ron got out.

"Rick?"

Shock registered on Shane's face when he saw his best friend get out of the van. "Hey Shane. I seen what you did, blocking the door. Thanks brother." Shane just nodded and showed him to where Carl and Lori were while Harry and Ron followed. Next thing they knew, they were almost knocked off their feet. "Harry! Ron! You made it back!" Harry chuckled and hugged Hermione and Ginny. Ginny whispered in Harry's ear 'We need to talk.'

Harry looked at her curiously and let it go for now while they walked over to the group around the campfire.

"And these two are the ones who came back for me." Carl patted Harry on the arm while Lori hugged Ron. "Thank you for bringing him back to us." Harry and Ron just looked away, embarrassed at the thanks.

"How did you find him?" asked Shane

"We went back to the house and apparently he was wandering around without a clue."

Carl hit his dad lightly on the arm and Rick laughed it off. "Come and meet everybody."

They walked around the camp and Shane introduced him to everybody. "You already know Glenn and with him is Dale. He owns the R.V. That over there is Ed and Carol. They have a daughter around Carl's age. Morales and his family. You know Andrea and that's her sister Amy. Jacqui and T-Dog are in the R.V. doing God knows what. And that over there's Jim. Dunno what he's doing up there though digging them holes."

Shane cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted "Hey Jim, what are you doing.!?"

Jim just waved and kept digging and Shane just shrugged.

"We'll check on him later. Oh, I almost forgot, there's Merle's brother Daryl. He's not gonna be too happy about you leaving his brother and he's potentially worse."

"Yeah, well if he was in my shoes, he probably would have done the same."

Shane shook his head in denial but said nothing.

"Speaking of which, we should send out patrol to scan the woods for Walkers. Knowing them, the racket that Glenn made on the way up here attracted a ton of them."

Rick and Shane made their way out into the woods while Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione went back to camp with Carl and Lori. Ginny squeezed Harry's hand and he looked at her. She gave him a look that said to follow her and once they were alone, she turned to him.

"We have to talk about Shane.."

"What about him?"

"He's unstable. He beat Ed into unconsciousness and his wife had to carry him back to their tent. Not only that, but he's been making eyes at both me and Hermione."

"I'll deal with him. But I need to tell you something as well. We can't use magic around these people. They'll suspect and we'll be under scrutiny and might be seen as a bigger threat to them than the Walkers. No doubt that the American Ministry of Magic has given up on the crisis and went into hiding. Typical government."

"We need to use it sometimes. If we have no way out of here, we need to make it as easy for us and these people as possible."

"We need a medium. Somewhere in between so that we don't expose ourselves but also help everybody."

Ginny agreed.

They noticed a shadow beside them and asked "Who's there?" The shadow disappeared quickly and panic set in. "Someone was eavesdropping. We donlt know who it is either which is going to be a problem. Let's get back to camp."

Carl wandered around the camp talking to random people. "Hey Carl, come here." He turned to see Dale watching him from beside the R.V. and went to him. "You know if you find yourself in need of something to do, I have some books for you. It'll be good for you to keep up your social skills."

"No thanks, Dale, but thanks anyway."

"Come on up with me and let's keep watch."

Carl grinned widely and climbed up the ladder and sat next to Dale, thinking about what he had overheard not minutes before.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Dixons

**A.N. I do not own The Walking Dead or Harry Potter. Both are sole property of the original authors.**

Chapter Twelve: Dixons

"Hey, hey, hey put it down!"

Harry looked around and saw a man with a crossbow on his back, swinging around a pickaxe, trying to hit Rick.

"Daryl put it down. It's not going to help Merle if you kill one of us."

"No but it'll make me feel better before I go save him myself."

Harry rushed Daryl but he dodged to the left and Harry went sprawling in the dirt. When Daryl tried to take a swing at Harry, Ron came out of nowhere and rugby-tackled him and made him drop the pickaxe. "Lemme go! Who the hell are you?"

"Calm down Daryl, Jim said, trying to get through to him.

"Shut up old man, they left my brother handcuffed to a roof. Don't tell me how I should feel right now."

"Daryl I'll go back and get him. I was planning to the moment we found camp."

"Rick you can't. You just got back." Shane said angrily

"I'm the one who cuffed him there. Anyway there's a bag of guns laying in the middle of the street that we could use." Shane still argued that he can't leave his wife and son again.

"I couldn't live with myself if an innocent man was killed because of me." He looked at Daryl. "No matter how big of an asshole he is." "Hey that's my brother you're talking about, you best take a different tone."

"I'm going. We need those guns." Rick explained. "If you're going, so am I. I ain't leavin' my brother." Rick just nodded.

Half an hour later

Rick, you don't have to go. You don't need to do this. You just got back, think of Carl."

"Dad, don't leave us again."

"I'll be back. I promise."

Glenn, Rick, Ron and Daryl climbed into the van while T-Dog got into the driver's seat and drove away from camp. "He should still be there and safe. I chained and locked the door. It would take a large number to break it." "Little comfort." Mumbled Daryl.

"Don't forget, we're here for the guns too."

They got to the store and oddly enough, it was clear of Walkers. The group made their way up the stairs and when they got to the door, T-Dog cut the chain with a set of bolt cutters.. Daryl moved ahead and they saw nothing but a set of handcuffs around a severed hand. "Dumbass musta cut it off." Daryl commented. They followed the blood trail to the downstairs kitchen in the next building. The gas light was on and the stove was covered in blood.

"He cauterized it here. There's no way to track him now. He knows not to leave a trail if he doesn't want to be found. But he underestimates his little brother. I'll find him again. Might not be today, but soon, I'll find him."

"We know he's safe now. We need to get those guns." Said Ron quietly

Rick replied. "I remember where they are. We just need to get there."

But when they got there, they were missing. "No guns. It means we gotta go get some more. Glenn you ready for another run?" Glenn groaned "I know what you're planning and I don't like it."

Daryl lured out two Walkers and he put an arrow through each of their heads. Then Rick and Glenn cut off their arms and rubbed themselves down with their guts and blood.

"Ugh I don't like this. I'll never get used to doing this." Glenn complained.

"Hey, it's either this or have them chasing you down. You might be fast, but there's a lot of them and they can get you cornered. Like a King against a bunch of pawns." Explained Ron.

"Chess man huh? Dale's gonna love you."

Ron chuckled as they watched Rick and Glenn leave the building and maneuver around the horde of Walkers and made their way to the gun shop just down the street. Once inside, Rick said "We need to hurry and we need a new bag."

Glenn grabbed the gym bag behind the counter and they loaded the bag up with rifles, handguns, and shotguns. "Okay, let's head back and get to the truck and get out of here."

Glenn couldn't agree more but before they took more than a few steps out the door, Rick felt a drop on his head. Then another and another. Soon it started to pour down raining, washing away their camouflage. "Umm, Rick? I think they know we're not one of them." Indeed, they turned and growled at them and shuffled toward them.

"Go!" They ran as fast as they could to the building when a random car skidded to a halt in front of them, Daryl behind the wheel. "Get in!" They shoved the gym bag into the back seat and jumped in quickly, slamming the doors shut. And drove off toward the camp.

**At The Camp**

"He should be back soon, Lori. Ron will take care of him. He's good like that." For the last couple hours, Hermione has been trying to comfort Lori. Carl kept looking at her curiously and it was beginning to unnerve her.

"Oh great."

"What?"

"It's about to rain."

Just then it started to pour and everybody rushed into their respective tents, Hermione joining Harry and Ginny. "Andrea, I'm going to the R.V. I gotta pee."

Andrea nodded and watched her back. But when she looked away for a minute to check for Rick and company, she heard a scream. Her heart stopped when she saw a Walker biting into her sister's neck.

"Noooo!"

Andrea pulled out her gun and put a bullet into the Walker's head. When her head turned, she saw people coming out of their tents and seeing more Walkers. "Stay with me Amy. Don't leave me alone." Andrea cried, holding her sister's hand tightly while gunshots echoed around the quarry, the rest of the survivors fighting off the horde that appeared out of nowhere.

Andrea held Amy and felt her body turn colder as the blood drained out of her faster than it can be stopped.

"It's Rick. They're back!" She turned to see Rick toss a spare gun to Shane and he took out a Walker about to bite Dale. "Lori and Carl are safe, but Amy was bit." They saw Jim swinging around the pickaxe, Morales using his handgun and chaos was everywhere. Everybody was soaked with rain and blood from the undead.

Daryl took out the last one with an arrow and carefully pulled it out of it's skull. Andrea sat in the rain and held her sister, who was fading fast. Amy reached up and touched her sister's cheek, the locket around her neck. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Cried Andrea, not letting her sister go and when her sister finally passed, she still held on.

"Jim was bit."

Andrea made no motion to even glance his way.

"We need to leave soon and he wants us to leave him here."

She still said nothing. Just holding Amy's body. Afraid to leave it. Afraid to say goodbye.

"Andrea." She quickly swung around, gun in hand and aimed it straight for Dale's head and he slowly backed away. A hand dropped on the gun and gently pried it from her hand. Harry knelt down and whispered "You have to do it soon. Before she comes back." He laid his hand on her shoulder and laid the gun back in her hand and turned the safety off. "It would work a lot better without the safety on."

She held onto her sister's body longer while Daryl stood by Carol and handed her the pickaxe that Jim was using. "Do it." He said. Short and simple. Harry looked down at the body on the ground and saw her husband gurgling blood, trying to say "Don't." Screaming, she took a swing and planted the pickaxe into her husband's head and swung over and over, crying, not from sadness. He noticed.. She was crying for, what? Joy? Relief? It took a tragedy to end another. 'Of all the irony.' Harry thought. 'This is the worst'


	13. Chapter Thirteen: CDC

Chapter Thirteen: CDC

"Morales and his family are leaving for home."

Shane stood next to Rick at the gravesite. Rick handed him a small revolver. "Give that to him. He needs it to protect his family." Shane started to protest but Rick reasoned that it was just one gun out of many they now have due to the fact that it lead up to them leaving Merle in Atlanta kin the first place. Had they not left him, they wouldn't have had to go back and then they wouldn't have guns at all.

The day was slow and sad. The survivors mourned for those they lost while they mourned for Jim, who was at death's door, the fever mounting cruelly. Jacqui took care of him in the R.V. No doubt her unrelenting kindness was what was helping him live. "You need to leave me Jacqui…"

She just shook her head and continued taking care of him.

When the time came when they had to leave, Jim still insisted on staying behind. "I want to see my family again. I left them, you know… They were being eaten alive and I did nothing but ran. I didn't even bother to try to save them. Leave me here and I will join them"

"Is that why you were digging those holes?"

"I had a dream that something that it happened. I was consumed by it."

"You expected it, but you didn't panic everybody, so you prepared. Only you made one less grave."

Jim shook his head. "I want to be with my family. Not in the ground without them. It might not be an appealing existence, but I know that I'll eventually get back to them."

Eventually, his stubbornness won out and they sat him down by the tree. Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione stood back, not being ones who were close to Jim, they didn't know what to say. They walked back to the R.V. and sat down at the table inside.

"Now that nobody's around, we have a chance to talk. I explained it to Ginny, but you might have already suspected this, but we need to lay back on our magic."

They said nothing but there were no protests. "Also, I think we were overheard. We don't know who, but we need to be very wary." The door to the R.V. moved and they went quiet. "There it is again. Someone keeps listening in on us, but we don't know who or if they're going to expose us. But we need to be careful." Harry whispered.

A knock on the door and Rick's voice called out "We're going now. Get your stuff together and we'll be on our way. We need to leave soon"

"We're already done" replied Hermione when Rick walked in. "Where are we headed?"

"To the CDC. There might be a cure and that's our best bet."

**A.N. It's going fairly fast, but I still don't know who I'm going to kill or who I'm going to save XP But since all of this is coming from the top of my head, we'll see how it turns out. R&R :3**


	14. Inter-Chapter Note From The Author

To keep the first season part of this story going to it's not too short on chapters and to get a good idea on the situational perspective, I'll be adding a filler. for lack of a better word. Mind you, I'm going to make it as dark as humanely possible and if you don't like that, then you can skip the filler. I will write another note to let those of you who don't like it know when the dark part is over and though it will get darker as the story goes on (it's a zombie apocalypse for crying out loud!) so no holds barred. In case anyone forgot and before you start flaming for things that might happen, it IS rated M. Also as I've said in another A.N. this story is off the top of my head and I'm writing as things come to me so it's as unpredictable as it might happen in a real life situation. People will die. More gruesomely than you might like, but I'm not one to be censored. Anyway, that's all for now, I hope you like the story so far and remember to read and review :) constructive criticism is appreciated. Questions, comments, words of wisdom and the occasional peanut gallery are welcome. As before, I do not own The Walking Dead or Harry Potter. If I did, that would be awesome.


	15. Filler Chapter One: What Do We Do?

Filler Chapter 1: What Do We Do?

"We're low on supplies." Announced Dale when he checked. "We need to stop somewhere before we even make it halfway to the CDC which according to Rick and Shane, may or may not be a dead end so if we're gonna survive a possible deadend, we're gonna have to stop somewhere."

Some of the group listened to Dale. Everybody heard him, but only a few of them actually listened to him. He was the elder of the group and seemed to have the most experience on the road.

"My wife and I we're on the road for a while before this all started so I know there are a few places around here that might not have been raided yet. I know Daryl can hunt, but no offense but you're only one man Daryl. You can't feed all of us."

"Alright." Rick started "We'll send out two groups to scavenge the nearest places. Dale, you'll have to lead one group since you know the areas. Daryl, we need you to take a group hunting. If you find a place, scout it out and gather what supplies you can. Stay close and if you get into trouble, here's a walkie and radio in. We'll come running."

Now everybody listened to Rick, but no one knows why. Shane was leader before Rick so isn't he just as qualified? Nobody questioned him, nobody protested the decision. Not even Shane.

"You think I should take one of the young ones to teach them how to hunt? It'll be good practice and who knows, they'lk need to do it for themselves at some point." Daryl explained.

"Dad, I wanna go" Carl piped up.

Lori made to protest, but Rick stopped her. "I meant to teach him myself when he got old enough. I was gonna talk to you about it when the time arose, but I guess now is as good as time as any now that we have someone who expertly knows how to hunt game."

Lori still said nothing but her eyes protested the decision. She turned to Carl and knelt down to look him straight in the eye. "You be very careful and do NOT fool around. This is a serious matter. If you behave and continue to behave and listen to what Daryl tells you, you can go out more often. But right now, that hangs by a thread if you mess up even once."

Carl nodded, eyes shining with excitement. Sophia ran up to Carl and hugged him tightly and he patted her awkwardly patted her on the back.

Harry spoke up. "I can go with him, it wouldn't hurt to have an extra set of eyes around and who knows, I might pick up a few things." Harry gave Daryl a wide smile and he just stared at him.

"Alright, anyone else?" Ginny put up her hand. "alright you too, Ginny."

Harry shuffled his feet but looked up when Ginny kissed his cheek. "You should go with the other group so that you're not here worrying yourself to death."

Harry nodded and went to stand beside Dale. "Mom, I want to go with Dale too!" Sophia nearly shouted. "I don't like hunting, but I wanna be helpful!" Carol made to protest, but Shane reasoned that Sophia needed to get out more and see the world a bit while there was still one left. Sophia squeaked quietly as if Shane was about to attack her like he did her father.

"Alright, I think it's prudent that we have four to each group, so who's gonna be the last member of Dale's group?"

Hermione raised her hand and she glared at Harry and Ron when they sniggered at her reaction.

"Alright, that's four. Dale, take the Jeep and head off. It has the most gas, so you should be able to get to a few places with fuel."

Everyone piled into Ed's Jeep and drove off. Ginny and Ron looking on worriedly.

"C'mon everyone. Let's get tracking."

The other four headed off into the woods not far from the highway.

Carl tugged gently on Ginny's sleeve and she looked down. he then crooked her finger for Ginny to come closer. When she lent Carl her ear, he whispered "I know what you are."

Panic set into Ginny's bones. 'What do we do?'


	16. Filler Chapter 2: When The Time Is Right

Filler Chapter 2: When The Time Is Right

"I don't know what you're talking about…" mumbled Ginny

"Oh c'mon. I know you're a Brit! Or are you a Scot? I could never tell those two apart…"

Relief swept through Ginny. 'This kid almost had me spilling my guts and we would have really been in trouble.'

"Yeah, I'm from the U.K. or more specifically near a small town called Ottery St. Catchpole."

Carl laughed

"What's so funny?"

"The name is funny. You have to admit that."

Ginny just shrugged.

"Keep yer yaps shut, you'll scare away the game."

"Sophia, keep close to us." Whispered Dale

Sophia moved closer to Hermione and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"How many?" whispered Harry.

"Four, but I know how we can distract them." Dale grabbed a small bell from the counter of the receptionist's desk and chucked it into a far corner. Instantly the Walkers turned toward the sound and shambled off.

"Good work." whispered Harry

Harry and Dale maneuvered around behind the Walkers and swung their weapons as hard as they could to the back of their skulls. Harry cringed as gore covered his shirt and the Walker fell. He moved to the next one and did the same to it before it turned around. Dale made equally short work of his two Walkers.

"Be careful." Announced Dale in a slightly louder voice "There are bound to be more in the rest of the hotel."

Sophia and Hermione slowly moved around the desk and looked through the Walker's pockets to see if they had anything useful..

"Eureka!" announced Sophia.

"What did you find?"

"I gots me some gum!"

Harry and Hermione just shook their heads while Dale chuckled. They began their search by slowly moving around the floors, searching each room.

"You know if the CDC really does turn out to be a dead end, we can always come back here and fortify it." Said Harry thoughtfully.

"Well if that didn't work, Rick was planning on moving us to FortBenning."

"I don't know where that is, Dale. Me and Hermone aren't even from the United States." Explained Harry

"Oh, well it's an Army base where there's said to be plenty of fortifications and supplies. No one's heard from them in a while but I think it's still standing." Explained Dale

"Well it might be another pipe dream, but it's anything to keep ourselves safe.." Hermione agreed perceptively.

:"You're pretty sharp for your age, aren't you?"

Harry and Hermione just laughed, knowing Dale was not far from the truth.

They were about to leave when Dale pulled Harry aside.

"What is it?" He asked, wondering if Dale was bit or something during their last skirmish with a particularly nasty Walker that was hiding in a closet on the fourth floor.

"I was wondering, and don't deny it. I'm smarter than I look. But when are you gonna do it?"

Harry looked immensely confused "Do what?"

Dale showed off his ring finger. "What? Who?"

"Hermione, of course."

"Dale, we're not courting. I'm with Ginny not Hermione. Ron's with Hermione and if he found out you made that assumption, he'll be flipping."

Dale waved it off. "Either way, when are you going to ask her?"

"Not yet. We're still far too young. I'm barely past seventeen and Ginny is only here under her parent's request. If it was my choice, she wouldn't be here in this mess."

**A.N. Hmmm… How are things going to go from here?... xD**


	17. Filler Chapter 3: The Church

Filler Chapter 3: The Church

Thank you for the awesome reviews. :D Keep it up guys.

**Daryl gave them a look that said making Ron chuckle. **

**t know what Rick**We** Rick just nodded and went about his business while Daryl kept an eye on the shadow amongst the trees. **

**Daryl took first watch, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Mostly the shadow. Near dawn, Dale came up to relieve Daryl. **Theret startle them.t move at all. Light approached and Rick questioned Daryl of what was watching them.

s gone now. I dons following at a distance. If it was a Walker, it wouldn

**s human.**We

**He the went over to Lori and Carl to help them get their tent packed away. In the background, Harry noticed Shane seething. s up Shane?**Nothing youngin just keeping watch out for , I heard what you did with you gonna bash me like Rick did?No, I would

**Shane stood there slightly shocked as Harry went over to his friends to help. The last one finished was Carol and Sophia, but with some help from Carl, they were all off again. **

**For three hours they trundled along until they saw Dale stop and frantically waved his hand out the window, signaling them all to stop. **

**em. We canll swarm us, but we can **

**t turn back. We have to make due with what we have. Can the R.V. make a trip through the woods?**Yeah, but it

**ll follow.**Lead on and we

**When they got closer, they found a church hidden deep in the woods. No doubt people used to come here a lot. There was a slightly overgrown line of grass covering the outline of gravel in front of it. **

**announced Daryl, whose keen eyes never miss a detail. **

**re not hostile and maybe they can shelter us until we find more supplies **

**ll take your women and children.t know why, so they queried him about it and he said nothing and shut the door. Noted Ron. **

**Harry knocked him gently upside the head. **

**s something bothering him and if we help him, he might provide shelter**These people, we need to draw them out. We donre capable of, but we need to get ourselves armed and set a trap. We cans just wrong. So we need someone to dress .re all going to protect him.

**s supposed to. You Hermione chided him, gleeful at the fun she was having even at Glenns scream. was heard before the voice was stopped mid sentence. **

**These people are taking Carl and Sophia. Harry was seeing red.**


	18. Filler Chapter 4: Help

Filler Chapter 4: Help Quietly, Harry, Rick and Daryl moved through the brush after the men who took the children. A tap on the shoulder and Harry looked at Daryl. Daryl put his finger to his lips and pointed into the dark, dense trees. Harry nodded and followed until the came to the edge of a clearing. "So wadda we do with these brats?" came a voice. "Same thing we did with the others, duh. We're still human and we need to eat." Harry had his mouth covered before he made a sound. 'Cannibals?!' Over the cover of the crackling fire, they moved through the bushes, keeping their eye on the dark silhouettes of the people. Looking over, Harry saw Andrea who was supposed to be following close behind just in case they were caught. Rick whispered to Harry "When I say go, we confront them. We have Daryl as backup and Andrea as backup for our backup. Remember nothing ever goes as planned." Harry nodded, knowing all too well that feeling of not knowing what's going to happen until it's too late. "Now." Harry and Rick walked out into the clearing and Harry cleared his throat. "Oh, well lookie here. More munchies come to save their kids?" "Let them go and we will leave. If you don't, we have a dozen people lined up around the clearing to wipe you out. No survivors." Explained Rick ominiously. Harry looked around and pretended to hold his hand up to the the "group" surrounding them. Unfortunately, they called the bluff and put a gun to Carl's head. "Move and I'll blow his brains out. Personally, I like them alive because they last longer, but if you do anything, he won't even be around long enough to become a walking corpse." Harry looked at Rick and a shot rang out and they saw a bullet rip through the man's hand, almost severing it completely. It hung on by a centimeter or so of sinew. "AHHHHHHHHHH!" The man screamed, echoing his voice around the surrounding area. "You really shouldn't do that. There's a massive hoard of Walkers just North-West of here." Said Rick calmly. "And if you point a gun at my son's head again, I'll put you down myself after our sniper wipes out your buddies." Harry looked around at the cannibal humans. There were about twelve of them and the one on the ground had to be their leader since he was giving the orders. 'How will we get out of this' He asked himself. All the sudden a blindingly bright light flashed across his field of vision, blocking everyone's view of their surroundings. Before blacking out, Harry heard grunts of pain and the sound of flesh being ripped apart. Unknown Amount Of Time Later…. Harry groaned and held his hand to his head. He opened his eyes and recognized the ceiling of the tent. Reaching for his glasses, he got up and staggered out the tent when his foot caught on the lip to the entrance. When he made it out to the group, his heart stopped for a moment. "Well we don't know what that light was, but we need to keep an eye on him." Rick was saying. "Eye on who?" asked Harry. "Well you remember the blast of light? Apparently it was made by this guy and I think you and your friends should stay away from him. He was asking too many questions and we had to put him in quarantine. Well as bast as we could." "Who?" "He said he knew you and he was here to help." "I want to see him." Exclaimed Harry vehemently. Rick took a deep breath and crooked a finger and urged Harry to follow him. Along the way, they picked up Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. "He said he got your message. I'm not sure how you could've sent one out, so I wasn't taking any chances." He opened the tent and lead the four inside. They gasped when they saw who it was. "Hey guys. I got your message. Think you can get these guys to release me?" announced Lupin cheerfully. 


End file.
